"Verity" Beats Tom Cruise: Audiences Did Not Read the Star Hierarchy

The psychological thriller "Verity", starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, topped the North American box office on the first weekend of October. Based on Colleen Hoover's bestseller, it took around $32.6 million in the US and Canada and about $30 million overseas, roughly $62.6 million in total. Its production budget is reported at around $40 million, so it is effectively in profit after one weekend.

For comparison: Tom Cruise's "Digger" made around $8 million in North America over the same period, on a reported budget of about $160 million. A quarter of the money, four times the audience. In any other industry that would be called efficiency. In Hollywood it is called a surprise.

Hollywood spends millions finding out what audiences want. Audiences tell it every weekend, for free.

The success confirms a trend that has been building for years: novels with a loyal readership, modest budgets and a clear genre hook often beat the expensive star vehicle. Somewhere in a conference room, someone is probably explaining right now why "Digger" was nonetheless a valuable learning experience in audience engagement. Audiences, meanwhile, simply bought a ticket for the film they wanted to see.